The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.

According to a PGR report requested by the IFAI, between 01 December 2006 and 31 August 2010, 2,169 kidnapping reports were generated throughout Mexico. Those states with the highest number of reported kidnappings were listed as follows:

Tamaulipas: 153
Durango: 82
Federal District: 77

Those areas with the lowest number of reported kidnappings were
identified as follows:

The U.S. security consultant firm, Stratfor, warns that major tourist destinations such as Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Cozumel and Cancun, still have pervasive drug-related violence. None of the major tourist destinations in Mexico is free of violence related to organized crime, which poses a serious risk for vacationers who visit the country during the season known as spring break .

The expansion of drug trafficking activities across the country raise the possibility that travelers may be caught in a crossfire or be exposed to situations of violence, says a new report from the firm Stratfor. The document warns that in the more traditional resorts such as Mexico, Mazatlan , Acapulco , Cozumel and Cancun , there is both drug trafficking and petty crime. “Many coastal cities with large numbers of tourists have grown up around ports playing strategic roles in the drug trafficking business. The organized crime cartels use commercial ships and fishing boats to transport cocaine shipments from South America to Mexico, and many cartels depend on hotels and resorts to launder drug money, continues the report.

Cancun and Cozumel

Stratfor indicates the Cancun port remains a major entry point for drugs from South America en route to the United States. The presence of the Zetas in the area remains strong. They further note that there is a possibility that the federal government will deploy additional troops to reinforce security in the city. As for Cozumel and Isla Mujeres, the consultancy said that while not specifically used for drug trafficking, they are not exempt from the drug-related violence since in 2009 to 2010 there were executions in these locales.

Acapulco

Stratfor said Acapulco is the best example of a high level tourist destination turned into a battlefield, with three different groups fighting for control of the city: the Beltran Leyva Organization,those loyal to Hector Beltran Edgar Valdez Villareal, “La Barbie” ,and the third group is known as the Independent Cartel Acapulco. (Note: late today it is reported that as many as 120 bodies may be innarcograves found near this city.)

Puerto Vallarta

The strategic location of this port makes it extremely important for drug trafficking. According to the report, narcotics shipments from South America arrive and from China ephedrine, a precursor chemical used to produce methamphetamine. The document warns that the country’s most powerful cartels have operations in this tourist destination and the neighboring municipality of Jarretaderas.

Mazatlan

Stratfor has identified Mazatlan, Sinaloa, as the resort where violence has became more persistent over the last year, so the likelihood that this will generate high levels of insecurity in tourism are very high.

Los Cabos

The Los Cabos region has remained relatively insulated from the violence linked to organized crime in the country and according to the report can be considered one of the safest areas in Mexico for foreign tourists. Although historically it was considered a transit point in the traffic of cocaine, continues the document, its importance declined dramatically after the glory days of the cartels in the 90’s, coupled with the dissolution of ties between the Tijuana cartel and Colombian cocaine producers.

A few days ago the President of Mexico Felipe Calderón led the signing of the National Agreement on Tourism , and said that insecurity has not slowed the growth of this sector. Expressed its intention that by the year 2018 the country will appear among the five most attracting tourist destinations worldwide. (Note: I subscribe to Stratfor’s intelligence briefs, and was surprised to see a major Mexican paperuse the report.)

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We have room for but one flag, the American flag…and we have room for but
one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”
~Theodore Roosevelt 1919